NightTalk with Gugu Mhlungu

The CEO of Southern African Tourism Services Association David Frost says the water crisis in Cape Town combined with the Listeriosis outbreak has had an impact on South African tourists.

The water crisis has had a bit of an impact in tourism.

— David Frost, CEO, Southern African Tourism Services Association

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on the Afternoon Drive, Frost says they work closely with the public sector - and the return of minister Dereck Hanekom is critical.

We've got Minister Hanekom back in the saddle and he's got an acute understanding of the sector.

— David Frost, CEO, Southern African Tourism Services Association

Frost says there are renewed efforts to look at the unabridged birth certificate and visa regulations to boost tourism in the country.

[there is a need to look at] some key visa relationships with countries such as China, India, New Zealand and some internal issues around vehicle licensing; perceptions around safety and security.

— David Frost, CEO, Southern African Tourism Services Association

The key issue is the unabridged birth certificates and linked to that is the visa relationships with some key markets China, India, New Zealand. We saw that Home Affairs just withdrew the visa regulations requirements for Russia and we saw a 50% increase in arrivals for that market.